PANews reported on August 28 that according to the Wall Street Journal, Telegram founder Pavel Durov had lunch with French President Macron in 2018, during which he was invited to move the company to Paris and apply for French citizenship. A year earlier, Durov's phone was hacked by a joint group of French and UAE spies. Durov is now detained by French authorities on suspicion that the Telegram platform facilitated illegal activities, including the dissemination of child pornography and drug trafficking. Although Telegram claims to comply with European laws, Durov's complex relationship with governments has once again attracted attention.
